Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a cartridge which is detachably mounted on a main body of an image forming apparatus and the image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus has employed a cartridge method in which a photosensitive member and a process unit are integrated as a cartridge, and the cartridge is configured to be detachably mounted on a main body of the image forming apparatus.
In such a cartridge method, a main body electrode of the main body of the image forming apparatus and an electrical contact unit of the cartridge contact with each other in a state that the cartridge is mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus, and a conducted member (a power-supplied member) of the photosensitive member, the process unit, and the like is electrically connected to the main body of the image forming apparatus. Accordingly, processes for charging the photosensitive member or a developer bearing member, the ground connection of the photosensitive member, detection of a toner remaining amount utilizing capacitance measurement, and the like can be implemented.
As an example of the electrical contact unit of the cartridge, an electrical contact unit is known which is integrally formed with a frame by filling a gap between the frame and a mold closely contacted with the frame with a conductive molten resin (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-63750).
However, in the above conventional example, if a supporting portion of the process unit, such as a seating surface of a cleaning blade or a supporting portion of the photosensitive member, is present near an injection part of the molten resin, the following case is concerned. More specifically, in such a case, the heat of the injected resin is transferred to the supporting portion and the periphery of the supporting portion, and the supporting portion and the periphery of the supporting portion may expand with the heat. If the process unit is assembled in a thermally-expanded state, a positional relationship and a form thereof may be affected after it is naturally cooled.
Therefore, the conventional example is required to leave the process unit for a certain period after the injection of the molten resin before assembly, or to forcibly cool down the supporting portion before assembly.